Remote access to a customer home network

ABSTRACT

A wireless application server may receive, from a wireless device, information identifying an application residing on a network device in a home network. The wireless application server may further cause a connection to be established to the application and transfer traffic between the application and the wireless device.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

With the advent of hardware and software capabilities of mobile phonesand the increasing availability of residential broadband Internetservice, customers are demanding services that operate seamlessly onboth broadband and cellular networks. A typical broadband home networkincludes a router and one or more personal computers. The broadband homenetwork may also include other types of network devices, such as set-topboxes, Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices, web cameras, etc. Atypical router may implement Network Address Translation (NAT) and mayinclude a built-in firewall and a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol(DHCP) server. The router may connect to the Internet with a singledynamic public Internet Protocol (IP) address. Home network devices mayuse the router's DHCP assigned private addresses. Thus, the home networkdevices are typically not directly accessible from the Internet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exemplary network in which systems and methods, consistentwith exemplary embodiments, may be implemented;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram of a device according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram of a portion of the user database of FIG.1 according to one exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram of a portion of the application databaseof FIG. 1 according to one exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary front view of the customer remote device of FIG.1 according to one exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of exemplary components of the customer remotedevice of FIG. 1 according to one exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an exemplary process, consistent withexemplary embodiments, for registering a user for remote access to theuser's customer home network;

FIG. 8 is an example of the interaction of components of the serviceprovider network and the customer home network in the processing of FIG.7;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an exemplary process, consistent withexemplary embodiments, for updating a user's device table;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an exemplary process, consistent withexemplary embodiments, for remotely interacting with an application inthe customer home network of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 11-14 are examples of the processing described in FIG. 10;

FIGS. 15A-15E illustrate an example of the processing described withrespect to FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description of exemplary embodiments refers tothe accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in differentdrawings may identify the same or similar elements. Also, the followingdetailed description does not limit the invention.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary network in which systems and methods, consistentwith exemplary embodiments, may be implemented. As illustrated, network100 may include a customer home network 110, a service provider network120, and a customer remote device 130 that connect via a network 140.The number of customer home networks 110, service provider networks 120,customer remote devices 130, and networks 140 illustrated in FIG. 1 isprovided for simplicity. In practice, there may be more or fewercustomer home networks 110, service provider networks 120, customerremote devices 130, and/or networks 140.

Customer home network 110 may include one or more devices that make up acustomer's home (or residential) wired and/or wireless network. Asillustrated, customer home network 110 may include a group of customerhome devices 112-1 through 112-N (referred to collectively as “customerhome devices 112”) and a gateway device 114. The number of customer homedevices 112 and gateway devices 114 illustrated in FIG. 1 is providedfor simplicity. In practice, there may be more or fewer customer homedevices 112 and/or gateway devices 114.

Customer home devices 112 may include one or more entities capable oftransmitting and/or receiving traffic via a network. An entity may bedefined as a device, such as a computer or another type of computationor communication device, a thread or process running on one of thesedevices, and/or an object executable by one of these devices. In oneembodiment, customer home devices 112 may include a personal computer, alaptop, a storage device, a set-top box, a web camera, a gaming system,a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) device, and/or another type ofdevice that may receive and/or transmit traffic.

Customer home devices 112 may store one or more applications that areaccessible to the customer via customer remote device 130. Anapplication may be broadly defined as any application residing on acustomer home device 112-1 through 112-N that may be accessible toanother device via a network. The application may listen on one or moreports of gateway device 114. Each customer device 112-1 through 112-Nmay host one or more applications. Examples of applications may includethe Microsoft File Sharing (Common Internet File System (CIFS)/ServerMessage Block (SMB)) application, a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) serverapplication, a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server application,etc. A customer home device 112-1 through 112-N may connect to anothercustomer home device 112-1 through 112-N and to gateway device 114 via awired and/or wireless connection.

Gateway device 114 may include one or more devices capable of routingtraffic between customer home devices 112 and network 140. For example,gateway device 114 may include a gateway, a bridge, a router (e.g., abroadband router), etc. In one embodiment, gateway device 114 mayinclude a TR-069-compliant home router, as specified in Jeff Bernsteinet al., “CPE WAN Management Protocol,” DSL Forum TR-069, May 2004, pp.1-109, which is incorporated by reference herein. Gateway device 114 mayimplement a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) control point. Customer homenetwork 110 may connect to network 140 via wired and/or wirelessconnections.

Service provider network 120 may include one or more devices that aid intransferring data between customer home devices 112 of customer homenetwork 110 and customer remote device 130. As illustrated, serviceprovider network 120 may include an auto-configuration server 121, auser database 122, an application database 123, a wireless applicationserver 124, a connectivity server 125, and a registration server 126.The number of auto-configuration servers 121, user databases 122,application databases 123, wireless application servers 124,connectivity servers 125, and registration servers 126 illustrated inFIG. 1 is provided for simplicity. In practice, there may be moreauto-configuration servers 121, user databases 122, applicationdatabases 123, wireless application servers 124, connectivity servers125, and/or registration servers 126.

Auto-configuration server 121 may include one or more devices capable ofconfiguring customer home devices 112 and/or gateway device 114 fortransmitting traffic to and/or receiving traffic from customer remotedevice 130. Auto-configuration server 121 may interact with customerhome network 110 to obtain information (e.g., operational status,configuration, etc.) of customer home network 110. In one embodiment,auto-configuration server 121 may implement a Southbound ApplicationInterface to gateway device 114 and one or more Northbound ApplicationInterfaces to other components of service provider network 120 (e.g.,connectivity server 125), according to the TR-069 protocol.

User database 122 may include one or more databases that storeinformation about registered users and their home networks. For example,user database 122 may store information relating to customer homedevices 112 and gateway device 114 in customer home network 110 andinformation relating to the customer associated with customer homenetwork 110.

Application database 123 may include one or more databases that storeinformation associated with applications that reside on customer homedevices 112. For example, the information may include informationidentifying the applications, information relating to operation of theapplications, etc.

Wireless application server 124 may include one or more devices that actas an entry point for customer remote device 130 to access anapplication on a customer home device 112-1 through 112-N. In oneembodiment, wireless application server 124 may host applications andprotocol engines that provide data conversion and protocol translation,respectively, for traffic traveling between customer remote device 130,customer home devices 112, and/or other components of service providernetwork 120.

Connectivity server 125 may include one or more devices that provide aconnection between service provider network 120 and customer homenetwork 110. In one embodiment, connectivity server 125 may establish asecure connection between wireless access server 124 and customer homenetwork 110 via auto-configuration server 121. Connectivity server 125may implement a TR-069 Northbound Application Interface.

Registration server 126 may include one or more devices that register acustomer and information relating to the applications that are installedon the customer's home devices 112. Registration server 126 may storeinformation relating to the customer and the applications in userdatabase 122.

Service provider network 120 may connect to network 140 via wired and/orwireless connections.

Customer remote device 130 may include one or more computation orcommunication devices, a thread or process running on one of thesedevices, and/or an object executable by one of these devices. In oneembodiment, customer remote device 130 may include any type of handhelddevice capable of running a downloadable binary execution module andestablishing a connection to a network, such network 140. For example,customer remote device 130 may include a mobile phone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a Blackberry device, a notebook or laptopcomputer, etc. Customer remote device 130 may connect to network 130 viaa wired or wireless connection.

Network 140 may include one or more networks of any type, including aPublic Land Mobile Network (PLMN), a local area network (LAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), an InternetProtocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network, a private network, theInternet, an intranet, and/or another type of network.

In one embodiment, a component of network 100 may perform one or more ofthe tasks described below as performed by another component of network100.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram of a device 200 according to anexemplary embodiment. Device 200 may correspond to a customer homedevice 112-1 through 112-N, gateway device 114, auto-configurationserver 121, wireless application server 124, connectivity server 125,and/or registration server 126. As illustrated, device 200 may include abus 210, processing logic 220, a memory 230, a read only memory (ROM)240, a storage device 250, an input device 260, an output device 270,and a communications interface 280.

Bus 210 may permit communication among the components of device 200.Processing logic 220 may include any type of processor or microprocessorthat interprets and executes instructions. In other embodiments,processing logic 220 may be implemented as or include an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array(FPGA), or the like. Memory 230 may include a Random Access Memory (RAM)or another type of dynamic storage device that stores information andinstructions for execution by processing logic 220. ROM 240 may includea ROM device and/or another type of static storage device that storesstatic information and instructions for processing logic 220. Storagedevice 250 may include some other type of magnetic or optical recordingmedium and its corresponding drive for storing information and/orinstructions.

Input device 260 may include a device that permits an operator to inputinformation to device 200, such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a pen,a microphone, one or more biometric mechanisms, and the like. Outputdevice 270 may include a device that outputs information to theoperator, including a display, a printer, a speaker, etc.

Communication interface 280 may include any transceiver-like mechanismthat enables device 200 to communicate with other devices and/orsystems. For example, communication interface 280 may include mechanismsfor communicating with another device or system via a network, such asnetwork 140.

Device 200 may perform certain operations as described in detail below.Device 200 may perform these and other operations in response toprocessing logic 220 executing software instructions contained in acomputer-readable medium, such as memory 230. A computer-readable mediummay be defined as a physical or logical memory device. The softwareinstructions may be read into memory 230 from another computer-readablemedium, such as data storage device 250, or from another device viacommunication interface 280. The software instructions contained inmemory 230 may cause processing logic 220 to perform operations thatwill be described later. Alternatively, hardwired circuitry may be usedin place of or in combination with software instructions to implementprocesses consistent with exemplary embodiments. Thus, systems andmethods described herein are not limited to any specific combination ofhardware circuitry and software.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram of a portion of user database 122according to an exemplary embodiment. It will be appreciated that userdatabase 122 may include multiple databases stored locally at serviceprovider network 120, or stored at one or more different and possiblyremote locations.

As illustrated, user database 122 may maintain a group of entries in thefollowing exemplary fields: a user identification (ID) field 310, agateway device identification field 320, and a device table field 330.Each row in user database 122 may correspond to a different user record.

User identification field 310 may store a sequence of characters thatidentifies a user. In one embodiment, the sequence of characters maycorrespond to a mobile telephone number. Gateway device identificationfield 320 may store a sequence of characters that identifies gatewaydevice 114 of the user's customer home network 110. In one embodiment,the sequence of characters may correspond to an Organizationally UniqueIdentifier (OUI) Serial Number (or other type of identifier) associatedwith gateway device 114. Device table field 330 may store a device tablefor gateway device 114 identified in gateway identification field 310.The device table may include the following exemplary fields: a devicedescription (DESCR) field 332 and an application identification field334. Device description field 332 may store information associated witha customer home device 112-1 through 112-N. For example, the informationmay include an identifier (or name) associated with the particularcustomer home device, one or more network addresses (e.g., an IPaddress, a Media Access Control (MAC) address, etc.) associated with theparticular customer home device, a service description, and/or otherinformation. Application identification field may store an identifierfor each application available on the customer home device identified indevice description field 332.

As one example, user database 122 may store a user record that includesa mobile telephone number of “703-555-1212” in user identification field310, an identifier of “A12345T6789” in the gateway device identificationfield 320, and a device table that includes information associated withcustomer home devices 112, identified as “devices 1-M,” and one or moreapplication identifiers for each customer home device 1-M.

Although FIG. 3 shows exemplary fields of user database 122, in otherembodiments, user database 122 may contain fewer, different, oradditional fields than depicted in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram of a portion of application database 123according to an exemplary embodiment. It will be appreciated thatapplication database 123 may include multiple databases stored locallyat service provider network 120, or stored at one or more different andpossibly remote locations.

As illustrated, application database 123 may maintain a group of entriesin the following exemplary fields: an application (APP) name field 410,application identification field 420, an Internet Protocol (IP) coreprotocol field 430, a port number (NO) field 440, a transport protocolfield 450, and an additional information (INFO) field 460. Each row inapplication database 123 may correspond to an entry relating to adifferent application profile.

Application name field 410 may store a name of an application residingon a customer home device 112-1 through 112-N. Applicationidentification field 420 may store a sequence of characters thatuniquely identifies the application in application name field 410. IPcore protocol field 430 may store information identifying the IP coreprotocol that the application in application identification field 420may use to transmit/receive traffic. For example, in one embodiment, IPcore protocol field 430 may identify the IP core protocol as theTransmission Control Protocol (TCP), the User Datagram Protocol (UDP),the Real-Time Protocol (RTP), etc. Port number field 440 may identifyone or more port numbers of gateway device 114 that the applicationidentified in application identification field 420 may use fortransmitting/receiving traffic. Transport protocol field 450 may storeinformation identifying a transport protocol identifier and/or name thatthe application identified in application may use. For example, in oneembodiment, transport protocol field 450 may identify the transportprotocol as the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the File TransferProtocol (FTP), etc. Additional information field 460 may storeadditional information relating to the application identified inapplication identification field 420. For example, the additionalinformation may include an application version, an icon associated withthe application, a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) service description,and/or other information relating to the application.

As one example, application database 123 may store an applicationprofile for an application named “WEB CAM,” which has an identifier of“123456.” The “WEB CAM” application uses TCP as the IP core protocol,port 1 of gateway device 114, and HTTP as the transport protocol. Inaddition, the application profile indicates that the “WEB CAM”application is version 1.2.

Although FIG. 4 shows exemplary fields of application database 123, inother embodiments, application database 123 may contain fewer,different, or additional fields than depicted in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary front view of customer remote device 130according to one exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, customerremote device 130 may include a housing 510, a speaker 520, a display530, control buttons 540, a keypad 550, and/or a microphone 560. Housing510 may protect the components of customer remote device 510 fromoutside elements. Speaker 520 may provide audible information to a userof customer remote device 130.

Display 530 may provide visual information to the user. For example,display 530 may display text input into customer remote device 130, textand/or graphics files (e.g., a picture, a word processing document,etc.) received from another device, such as a customer home device 112-1through 112-N, and/or information regarding incoming or outgoing callsor text messages, media, games, phone books, address books, the currenttime, etc. Control buttons 540 may permit the user to interact withcustomer remote device 130 to cause customer remote device 130 toperform one or more operations. For example, control buttons 540 may beused to cause customer remote device 130 to transmit information. Keypad550 may include a standard telephone keypad, an expanded telephonekeypad, a full QWERTY keypad, etc. Microphone 560 may receive audibleinformation from the user.

Although FIG. 5 shows exemplary components of customer remote device130, in other embodiments, customer remote device 130 may include fewer,different, or additional components than depicted in FIG. 5. In stillother embodiments, one component of customer remote device 130 mayperform one or more of the tasks described as performed by anothercomponent of customer remote device 130.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of exemplary components of customer remote device130 according to one exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, customerremote device 130 may include processing logic 610, memory 620, a userinterface 630, a communication interface 640, and/or an antenna assembly650. Processing logic 610 may include a processor, microprocessor, anASIC, FPGA, or the like. Processing logic 610 may control operation ofcustomer remote device 130 and its components. Memory 620 may include aRAM, a ROM, and/or another type of memory to store data and instructionsthat may be used by processing logic 610.

User interface 630 may include mechanisms for inputting information tocustomer remote device 130 and/or for outputting information fromcustomer remote device 130. Examples of input and output mechanismsmight include buttons (e.g., control buttons 540, keys of keypad 550, ajoystick, etc.) to permit data and control commands to be input intocustomer remote device 130; a speaker (e.g., speaker 520) to receiveelectrical signals and output audio signals; a microphone (e.g.,microphone 560) to receive audio signals and output electrical signals;a display (e.g., display 530) to output visual information (e.g., textinput into customer remote device 130); and/or a vibration mechanism tocause customer remote device 130 to vibrate.

Communication interface 640 may include, for example, a transmitter thatmay convert baseband signals from processing logic 610 to radiofrequency (RF) signals and/or a receiver that may convert RF signals tobaseband signals. Alternatively, communication interface 640 may includea transceiver to perform functions of both a transmitter and a receiver.Communication interface 640 may connect to antenna assembly 650 fortransmission and/or reception of the RF signals. Antenna assembly 650may include one or more antennas to transmit and/or receive RF signalsover the air. Antenna assembly 650 may, for example, receive RF signalsfrom communication interface 640 and transmit them over the air andreceive RF signals over the air and provide them to communicationinterface 640. In one embodiment, for example, communication interface640 may communicate with a network, such as network 140.

As will be described in detail below, customer remote device 130 mayperform certain operations in response to processing logic 610 executingsoftware instructions of an application contained in a computer-readablemedium, such as memory 620. The software instructions may be read intomemory 620 from another computer-readable medium or from another devicevia communication interface 640. The software instructions contained inmemory 620 may cause processing logic 610 to perform processes that willbe described later. Alternatively, hardwired circuitry may be used inplace of or in combination with software instructions to implementprocesses described herein. Thus, embodiments described herein are notlimited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

Although FIG. 6 shows exemplary components of customer remote device130, in other embodiments, customer remote device 130 may include fewer,different, or additional components than depicted in FIG. 6. In stillother embodiments, a component of customer remote device 130 may performone or more of the tasks described as performed by another component ofcustomer remote device 130.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an exemplary process, consistent withexemplary embodiments, for registering a user for remote access to theuser's customer home network. In one embodiment, the processing of FIG.7 may be performed by one or more components within service providernetwork 120. In another embodiment, some or all of the processingdescribed below may be performed by another component or group ofcomponents including or excluding components within service providernetwork 120.

Processing may begin with service provider network 120 receiving userinformation from a user (block 710). For example, the user may usecustomer remote device 130 to connect to registration server 126. In oneembodiment, the user may connect to registration server 126 using a webbrowser on customer remote device 130. Alternatively, customer remotedevice 130 may include an application that, upon execution,automatically establishes a connection to registration server 126. Uponconnection to registration server 126, the user may provide, viacustomer remote device 130, user information to registration server 126.The user information may include, for example, a name, a home address, amobile telephone number, etc. Alternatively, registration server 126 maydetermine this information automatically (e.g., by detecting a telephonenumber associated with customer remote device 130 (e.g., via automaticnumber identification) and using the detected telephone number to obtaininformation for the user from a database).

Service provider network 120 may create a user record for the user(block 720). For example, registration server 126 may use some or all ofthe information received from the user to create the user record in userdatabase 122. In one embodiment, registration server 126 may create anew entry in user database 122 and store, for example, a telephonenumber associated with customer remote device 130 in user identificationfield 310.

Service provider network 120 may obtain an identifier for gateway device114 associated with customer home network 110 (i.e. the user's customerhome network) (block 730). For example, in one exemplary embodiment,registration server 126 may obtain the identifier for gateway device 114from the user. In another exemplary embodiment, registration server 126may obtain the identifier for gateway device 114 from a database thatassociates information relating to the user with the identifier (e.g.,registration server 126 may look up the identifier for gateway device114 using, for example, the user's name, address, and/or otherinformation). Registration server 126 may store the obtained identifierfor gateway device 114 in the new user record (e.g., in gatewayidentification field 320).

Service provider network 120 may request a snapshot of customer homenetwork 110 from gateway device 114 using the identifier of gatewaydevice 114 (block 740). For example, registration server 120 maytransfer the obtained identifier for gateway device 114 to connectivityserver 125/auto-configuration server 121. Reference to “connectivityserver 125/auto-configuration server 121” may correspond to aconnectivity server 125-auto-configuration server 121 interaction via aTR-069 Northbound Interface. Registration server 120 may subscribe withconnectivity server 125 to receive notifications relating to theidentifier for gateway device 114.

Connectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121 may look up anetwork address (e.g., an IP address) for gateway device 114 using theidentifier for gateway device 114 (e.g., from a database that associatesthe identifier of gateway device 114 with the network address forgateway device 114). Connectivity server 125/auto-configuration server121 may send the request for a snapshot of customer home network 110 togateway device 114 using the network address.

In response to receiving the request, gateway device 114 may obtain thesnapshot of customer home network 110. In one exemplary embodiment,gateway device 114 may obtain the snapshot of customer home network 110using the Universal Plug and Play discovery and description procedures.Other procedures for obtaining the snapshot of customer home network 110may alternatively be used. The snapshot may include informationregarding the type of each customer home device 112-1 through 112-N, anidentifier for each customer home device 112-1 through 112-N, and/or oneor more network addresses (e.g., an IP address, a MAC address, etc.) foreach customer home device 112-1 through 112-N. The snapshot may alsoinclude, for each customer home device 112-1 through 112-N,vendor-specific information, such as the model name and number, serialnumber, manufacturer name, etc. The snapshot may further include, foreach customer home device 112-1 through 112-N, a list of applicationsassociated with the customer home device and information relating to theapplications, such as an application name, an application identifier, anIP core protocol used by the application, a port number used by theapplication, a transport protocol used by the application, and/oradditional information. Gateway device 114 may transmit the snapshot toservice provider network 120.

Service provider network 120 may receive the snapshot of customer homenetwork 110 from gateway device 114 (block 750). For example,connectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121 may receive thesnapshot from gateway device 114.

Service provider network 120 may store information from the receivedsnapshot into a device table in user database 122 (block 760). Forexample, connectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121 maytransfer the received snapshot to registration server 126 based onregistration server 126's subscription with connectivity server 125.Registration server 126 may store information from the received snapshotinto the device table in device table field 330 in the newly createduser record for the user. The stored information may include descriptioninformation for each customer home device 112-1 through 112-N and a listof application identifiers for each customer home device 112-1 through112-N.

Service provider network 120 may further create one or more applicationprofiles in application database 123 for the applications residing oncustomer home devices 112 using information from the snapshot (block770). For example, registration server 126 may create an applicationprofile in application database 123 for each application residing on acustomer home device 112-1 through 112-N. As illustrated in FIG. 4, eachapplication profile may include an application name, an applicationidentifier, an IP core protocol used by the application (e.g., TCP, UDP,etc.), the port number used by the application, the transport protocolused by the application (HTTP, FTP, etc.), and/or other informationassociated with the application (e.g., version number, an icon, theUniversal Plug and Play service description for the application, etc.).

FIG. 8 is an example 800 of the interaction of components of serviceprovider network 120 and customer home network 110 in the processingdescribed above with respect to FIG. 7. As illustrated in FIG. 8,processing may begin with registration server 126 receiving useridentity information from customer remote device 130 (act 810). Inresponse, registration server 126 may create a user record in userdatabase 123 (not shown) (act 820). Registration server 126 may furthersend a subscribe message to connectivity server 125/auto-configurationserver 121 that includes an identifier for gateway device 114 (act 830).Connectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121 may transfer arequest (e.g., a TR-069-compliant request, referred to as aSetParameterAttribute method call in FIG. 8) to gateway device 114 forcustomer home device information (act 840). In response to receiving therequest, gateway device 114 may perform Universal Plug and Playdiscovery and description procedures to obtain device descriptioninformation and application (or service) description information. Forexample, gateway device 114 may interact with an application on customerdevice 112-1 to obtain device description information and application(or service) description information (act 850).

Gateway device 114 may transmit the device and application (or service)descriptions and the identifier for gateway device 114 to connectivityserver 125/auto-configuration server 121 in a TR-069-compliant response(act 860). In response to receiving the information from gateway device114, connectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121 may send anotify message to registration server 126 that includes the device andapplication (or service) descriptions and the identifier for gatewaydevice 114 (act 870). Registration server 126 may then update a devicetable in the newly created user record (act 880).

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an exemplary process, consistent withexemplary embodiments, for updating a user's device table. In oneembodiment, the processing of FIG. 9 may be performed by one or morecomponents within service provider network 120. In another embodiment,some or all of the processing described below may be performed byanother component or group of components including or excludingcomponents within service provider network 120.

As indicated above, registration server 126 may subscribe to receiveupdates for the identifier of gateway device 114. Moreover, gatewaydevice 114 may be configured to send status changes in customer homenetwork 110 to connectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121.Processing may begin with service provider network 120 receiving achange notification from gateway device 114 (block 910). For example,connectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121 may receive thechange notification from gateway device 114. The change notification mayinclude a customer home device joining customer home network 110, acustomer home device leaving customer home network 110, a customer homedevice being reconfigured, etc.

Service provider network 120 may update the appropriate device table inuser database (block 920). For example, connectivity server125/auto-configuration server 121 may transfer the change notificationto registration server 126 based on registration server 126'ssubscription to receive notifications relating to the identifierassociated with gateway device 114. In response to receiving the changenotification, registration server 126 may update the appropriate devicetable in device table field 330 to reflect the information in the changenotification. In this way, registration server 126 ensures that userdatabase 122 stores the most recent information regarding customer homenetwork 110.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an exemplary process, consistent withexemplary embodiments, for remotely interacting with an application incustomer home network 110. In one embodiment, the processing of FIG. 10may be performed by one or more components within service providernetwork 120. In another embodiment, some or all of the processingdescribed below may be performed by another component or group ofcomponents including or excluding components within service providernetwork 120.

Processing may begin with service provider network 120 receiving asession initiation request from customer remote device 130 (block 1010).For example, a user of customer remote device 130 may initiate a sessionby sending a session initiation request to wireless application server124. In one embodiment, the session initiation request may include auser identifier (e.g., a telephone number associated with customerremote device 130).

Service provider network 120 may obtain application identifier(s) forthe user and an identifier for gateway device 114 from user database 122(block 1020). For example, wireless application server 124 may use theuser identifier received in the session initiation request to identify auser record from user database 122. Wireless application server 124 mayobtain the gateway device identifier and application identifiers fromgateway identifier field 320 and device table field 330 of the userrecord.

Service provider network 120 may retrieve application profile(s) fromapplication database 123 (block 1030). For example, wireless applicationserver 124 may use the application identifiers obtained from userdatabase 122 to obtain the appropriate application profiles fromapplication database 123.

Service provider network 120 may retrieve the public IP address forgateway device 114 (block 1040). For example, wireless applicationserver 124 may send the identifier for gateway device 114 toconnectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121. Connectivityserver 125/auto-configuration server 121 may use the identifier ofgateway device 114 to look up a public IP address for gateway device 114from a database that associates the gateway device identifier with apublic IP address. Connectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121may transfer the public IP address of gateway device 114 to wirelessapplication server 124. Wireless application server 124 may start asession timer for the user's session upon receipt of the public IPaddress of gateway device 114.

Service provider network 120 may create a list of applications thatreside on customer home devices 112 (block 1050). For example, wirelessapplication server 124 may send the public IP address of gateway device114 and the retrieved application profiles to connectivity server125/auto-configuration server 121. Connectivity server125/auto-configuration server 121 may connect to each application oncustomer home devices 112 and determine whether the application isavailable. In some instances, a customer home device 112-1 through 112-Nmay be powered down, disconnected, etc. Thus, by connecting to eachapplication, connectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121 maydetermine whether the application is available. Connectivity server125/auto-configuration server 121 may create a list of applications thatincludes information identifying each application that is determined tobe available.

Service provider network 120 may provide the list of applications tocustomer remote device 130 (block 1060). For example, wirelessapplication server 124 may transmit the application list to customerremote device 130 via network 140.

Customer remote device 130 may display the list of applications to theuser. In response, the user may select an application from the list inany known manner.

Service provider network 120 may receive the application selection(block 1070). For example, wireless application server 124 may receivean identifier for an application from customer remote device 130 inresponse to the user selecting the application. Wireless applicationserver 124 may connect to the application indirectly by, for example,requesting connectivity server 125 to forward the application port(s) ongateway device 114. Connection to the application may involveconnectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121 opening theappropriate port on gateway device 114 for the selected application.

Service provider network 120 may transfer traffic between the selectedapplication and customer remote device 130 (block 1080). For example,wireless application sever 124 may transfer traffic to the applicationon a customer home device 112-1 through 112-N (through gateway device114) from customer remote device 130 and to customer remote device 130from the application. During the transfer, wireless application server124 may perform protocol conversion. For example, the application mayimplement a variety of transport protocols. A typical personal computermay support, for example, CIFS/SMB that allows browsing of the filesystem and reading/writing files. Further, network attached storagedevices may implement Network File Server (NFS), CIFS/SMB, FTP, etc. Amodern gateway device 114 may implement HTTP/HTTPS on network 140 sideand CIFS/SMB on customer home network 110 side.

When wireless application server 124 receives requests from customerremote device 130, wireless application server 124 may invoke a protocoladapter according to the application profile associated with theapplication selected. For example, if the user-selected customer homedevice 112-1 through 112-N is a network attached storage device thatsupports only FTP, wireless application server 124 may translate therequests from customer remote device 130 to FTP commands. If theuser-selected customer home device 112-1 through 112-N supports theUniversal Plug and Play protocol, wireless application server 124 mayinvoke a protocol adapter that transforms the requests from customerremote device 130 to, for example, Universal Plug and Play Simple ObjectAccess Protocol (SOAP) methods.

During the transfer of traffic between the selected application andcustomer remote device 130, wireless application server 124 may alsoperform data conversion. Whether data conversion is to be performed maydepend on the type of data requested by customer remote device 130. Whencustomer remote device 130 interacts with the selected application,customer remote device 130 may send the Multipurpose Internet MailExtensions (MIME) content type that customer remote device 130 accepts.Wireless application server 124 may receive data from the selectedapplication, invoke the corresponding application, convert the data, andsend the converted data to customer remote device 130. Examples of dataconversions that may be performed include converting an image from anoriginal format to a format that is acceptable to customer remote device130 (e.g., to a Graphic Interchange Format (GIF), Joint PhotographicExperts Group (JPG) format, Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), PortableNetwork Graphics (PNG) format, etc.), extracting text from MicrosoftWord® and Portable Document Format (PDF) files, converting audio/videofiles and streams (e.g., Moving Picture Experts Group layer 3 (MP3)format, Qualcomm PureVoice® codec (QCELP), MPEG-4, 3^(rd) GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) format, etc.), etc. Customer remote device130 may provide information regarding data that is to be sent tocustomer remote device 130. For example, customer remote device 130 mayprovide a screen size for MIME “image” content-type data or an amount of“text” type data that customer remote device 130 is capable ofreceiving. If such information is available to wireless applicationserver 124, wireless application server 124 may take the appropriateaction, (e.g., resizing an image, paginating text data, etc.).

The user's session may terminate when the session timer expires. In oneembodiment, the session timer may reset every time wireless applicationserver 124 receives a request from customer remote device 130. Thus, thesession lasts as long as the user interacts with the selectedapplication. The user's session may further terminate when the userselects another application. In response to the session terminating,service provider network 120 may close the port on gateway device 114for the selected application.

FIG. 11 is an example of the processing described above with respect toblocks 1010-1040 of FIG. 10. As illustrated in FIG. 11, processing maybegin with a user of customer remote device 130 initiating a session bysending a session initiation request, which includes a user identifier,to wireless application server 124 (act 1105). In response, wirelessapplication server 124 may use the user identifier to obtain anidentifier for gateway device 114 and identifiers for applicationsresiding on customer home devices 112 from user database 122 (acts 1110,1115, and 1120). Wireless application server 124 may use the applicationidentifiers to obtain application profile(s) from application database123 (acts 1125, 1130, and 1135). Wireless application server 124 maysend the identifier for gateway device 114 to connectivity server125/auto-configuration server 121 (act 1140). Connectivity server125/auto-configuration server 121 may use the identifier of gatewaydevice 114 to look up a public IP address for gateway device 114 (act1145). Connectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121 maytransfer the public IP address of gateway device 114 to wirelessapplication server 124 (block 1150). In response to receiving the publicIP address of gateway device 114, wireless application server 124 maystart a session timer (act 1155).

FIG. 12 is an example of the processing described above with respect toblock 1050 of FIG. 10. As illustrated in FIG. 12, processing may beginwith wireless application server 124 determining whether a firstapplication on customer home devices 112 is available (act 1210). Tomake this determination, wireless application server 124 may send thepublic IP address of gateway device 114 and an application profile toconnectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121 (act 1212).Connectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121 may send a request(e.g., a TR-069-compliant request) to gateway device 114 to request thatgateway device 114 open the appropriate port of gateway device 114 forthe first application (act 1214). Gateway device 114 may send anacknowledgment indicating that the port has been opened. Connectivityserver 125/auto-configuration server 121 may attempt to connect to thefirst application on customer home devices 112 (act 1216). Connectivityserver 125/auto-configuration server 121 may send an indication towireless application server 124 indicating whether the first applicationis available (act 1218). Connectivity server 125/auto-configurationserver 121 may send a request (e.g., a TR-069-compliant request) togateway device 114 requesting that gateway device 114 close the port(act 1220).

Wireless application server 124 may perform the above operations foreach application in customer home network 110 (act 1230) until theavailability of each application has been determined. Connectivityserver 125/auto-configuration server 121 may create a list of availableapplications (act 1240). Wireless application server 124 may transmitthe application list to customer remote device 130 (act 1250).

FIG. 13 is an example of the processing described above with respect toblocks 1070-1080 of FIG. 10. Assume that a user of customer remotedevice 130 selects an application from the list of applications providedby service provider network 120. In response to the selection, customerremote device 130 may provide an identifier for the application and theMIME content type that customer remote device 130 accepts to wirelessapplication server 124 (act 1310). Wireless application server 124 mayprovide the public IP address of gateway device 114 and the applicationprofile for the received application identifier to connectivity server125/auto-configuration server 121 (act 1320). Connectivity server125/auto-configuration server 121 may send a request (e.g., aTR-069-compliant request) to gateway device 114 to request that gatewaydevice 114 open the appropriate port of gateway device 114 for theselected application (act 1330). Gateway device 114 may send anacknowledgment indicating that the port has been opened. In response,wireless application server 124 may establish a connection to theselected application. Thereafter, customer remote device 130 and theselected application may communicate (act 1340). As indicated above withrespect to FIG. 10, the transfer of traffic between customer remotedevice 130 and the selected application may involve the conversion ofdata from a first format to a second format and/or the conversion of afirst protocol to a second protocol.

In response to a request from customer remote device 130 or the userselecting a different application in customer home network 110 (act1350), connectivity server 125/auto-configuration server 121 may send arequest (e.g., a TR-069-compliant request) to gateway device 114 toclose the port on gateway device 114 (act 1360). In response, gatewaydevice 114 may close the port.

FIG. 14 is an exemplary process for interacting with an application incustomer home network 110 to send an electronic mail (e-mail) message,according to an exemplary embodiment. For this process, assume that,during a session, the user desires to send a binary or image filelocated on a selected customer home device (e.g., customer home device112-1) to an e-mail or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) recipient.Processing may begin with the user providing a path for the selectedfile (e.g., by selecting the file) on customer home device 112-1 and therecipient's e-mail or MMS address to wireless application server 124(act 1410). In response, wireless application server 124 may use thepath for the file to obtain the file (acts 1420-1440). Wirelessapplication server 124 may compose the MIME multipart message with, forexample, the Content-type set to application/octet-stream,Content-transfer-encoding set to base64, and Content-disposition set toattachment part headers (act 1450). Wireless application server 124 maysubmit the message to a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server 1470for delivery to the e-mail or MMS recipient (act 1460). After submittingthe message to SMTP server 1470 for delivery, wireless applicationserver 124 may notify the user of the submission status.

The following example 1500 of FIGS. 15A-15E illustrates the processingdescribed above with respect to FIG. 10. In example 1500, assume that acustomer remote device 1510 takes the form of a mobile telephone. Assumefurther a user of customer remote device 1510 desires to connect to theuser's customer home network 110. As illustrated in FIG. 15A, the usermay select an action 1520 in a list of actions on a display (e.g.,display 530) of customer remote device 1510. In response to theselection, customer remote device 1510 may send a session initiationrequest to service provider network 120. Service provider 120 may createa list of applications that are available in customer home network 110and send the list for display on customer remote device 1510, asillustrated in FIG. 15B. Assume that the user selects the application“My PC” 1530 from the list of applications. In response service providernetwork 120 may establish a connection to a customer home device 1540that includes the application “My PC,” as illustrated in FIG. 15C.

Assume that the user accesses the “My Documents” folder on customer homedevice 1540. In response, customer home device 1540 may transmit a listof documents within the “My Documents” folder. Assume that the userselects the image file “Blue hills.jpg” 1550. In response, customerremote device 1510 may transfer information indicating the selection tocustomer home device 1540. Customer home device 1540 may transfer theselected image file to customer remote device 1510. Upon receipt,customer remote device 1510 may display image 1560, as illustrated inFIG. 15D.

As a second example, assume in FIG. 15C that the user selects thedocument entitled “D-Link VoD NAT QoS Analysis” in the list of documentsin the “My Documents” folder. In response, customer remote device 1510may transfer information indicating the selection to customer homedevice 1540. Customer home device 1540 may transfer the selecteddocument to customer remote device 1510. Upon receipt, customer remotedevice 1510 may display document 1570, as illustrated in FIG. 15E.

Embodiments described herein allow users to remotely connect toapplications and documents within the user's home network. A serviceprovider network facilitates the connection of the user's remote deviceto the home network and the transmission of traffic between the remotedevice and the home network.

The foregoing description of exemplary embodiments provides illustrationand description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variationsare possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired frompractice of the invention. For example, while series of blocks and/oracts have been described with respect to FIGS. 7-14, the order of theacts may be varied in other embodiments. Moreover, non-dependent actsmay be implemented in parallel.

The exemplary embodiments, as described above, may be implemented inmany different forms of software, firmware, and hardware in theimplementations illustrated in the figures. The actual software code orspecialized control hardware used to implement the exemplary embodimentsdescribed herein is not limiting of the invention. Thus, the operationand behavior of the exemplary embodiments were described withoutreference to the specific software code—it being understood that onewould be able to design software and control hardware to implement theexemplary embodiments based on the description herein.

Further, certain portions of the invention may be implemented as “logic”that performs one or more functions. This logic may include hardware,such as an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmablegate array, a processor, or a microprocessor, software, or a combinationof hardware and software.

Even though particular combinations of features are recited in theclaims and/or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are notintended to limit the invention. In fact, many of these features may becombined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and/or disclosedin the specification.

No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the presentapplication should be construed as critical or essential to theinvention unless explicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, thearticle “a” is intended to include one or more items. Where only oneitem is intended, the term “one” or similar language is used. Further,the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on”unless explicitly stated otherwise.

1. A method comprising: receiving, by one or more servers and from auser device, a session initiation request for access to a customer homenetwork; creating, by the one or more servers, a list of applicationsthat are available on devices within the customer home network byaccessing the customer home network; providing, by the one or moreservers, the list of applications to the user device; receiving, by theone or more servers and from the user device, selection ofidentification information of an application in the list ofapplications; establishing, by the one or more servers, a connection tothe application based receiving the selection of the identificationinformation of the application; and transferring, by the one or moreservers, traffic between the application and the user device afterestablishing the connection.
 2. The method of claim 1, where the sessioninitiation request includes a telephone number associated with the userdevice, and where the method further comprises: obtaining, using thetelephone number, a list of identifiers associated with applications, inthe list of applications, and an identifier associated with a gatewaydevice located in the customer home network.
 3. The method of claim 2,further comprising: retrieving, for each identifier in the list ofidentifiers, an application profile that includes information relatingto a particular application, in the list of applications, with which theidentifier is associated.
 4. The method of claim 3, where theinformation relating to the particular application includes at least oneof information relating to an Internet Protocol core protocol, a portnumber of the gateway device that the particular application uses, orinformation relating to a transport protocol.
 5. The method of claim 1,where creating the list of applications includes: attempting to connectto each application of a plurality of applications associated with thecustomer home network, determining that a particular application, of theplurality of applications, is available when a connection can beestablished to the particular application, and including informationidentifying the particular application in the list of applications whenthe particular application is available.
 6. The method of claim 1, wheretransferring the traffic between the application and the user deviceincludes: converting, data from the application, from a first protocolto a second protocol.
 7. The method of claim 1, where transferring thetraffic between the application and the user device includes:converting, data from the application, from a first data format to asecond data format.
 8. The method of claim 1, where transferring thetraffic between the application and the user device includes:transferring the traffic between the one or more servers and the userdevice over an Internet. 9-20. (canceled)
 21. A server comprising: amemory to store instructions; and a processor to execute theinstructions to: provide a list of applications, available on a networkdevice in a home network, to a user device, receive, from the userdevice, selection of information identifying an application in the listof applications, cause a connection, to the application, to beestablished based on receiving the selection of the informationidentifying the application, and transfer data between the applicationand the user device based on establishing the connection.
 22. The serverof claim 21, where, when transferring the data between the applicationand the user device, the processor is to execute the instructions to:convert a first protocol, associated with the data, to a secondprotocol.
 23. The server of claim 21, where, when transferring the databetween the application and the user device, the processor is to executethe instructions to: convert the data from a first format to a secondformat.
 24. The server of claim 21, where the processor is further toexecute the instructions to: receive information identifying a path to afile on the network device and an electronic mail message address or amultimedia messaging service address, retrieve the file from the networkdevice using the path, compose a message using the retrieved file, andsubmit the message, including the retrieved file, to a simple mailtransfer protocol server for delivery to the received electronic mailmessage address or the multimedia messaging service address.
 25. Theserver of claim 24, where the processor is to receive the electronicmail message address or the multimedia messaging service address and thepath to the file from the user device.
 26. The server of claim 21, wherethe processor is further to: receive a session initiation request fromthe user device for access to the home network, where, when providingthe list of applications, the processor is to: provide the list ofapplications based on receiving the session initiation request.
 27. Theserver of claim 21, where the processor is further to: attempt toconnect to a particular application of a plurality of applicationsassociated with the home network, determine that the particularapplication is available when a connection, to the particularapplication, can be established, and include information identifying theparticular application in the list of applications when the particularapplication is available.
 28. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, from the user device, information identifying a path to afile on a device in the customer home network and an electronic mailmessage address or a multimedia messaging service address; retrievingthe file from the device using the path; composing a message using theretrieved file; and submitting the message, including the retrievedfile, to a simple mail transfer protocol server for delivery to thereceived electronic mail message address or the multimedia messagingservice address.
 29. A system comprising: one or more servers to:receive a request, from a user device, for access to a customer homenetwork; access the customer home network to create a list ofapplications that are available on devices within the customer homenetwork; provide the list of applications to the user device; receive,from the user device, selection of identification information of anapplication in the list of applications; establish a connection to theapplication based on the received selection; and transfer data betweenthe application and the user device after establishing the connection.30. The system of claim 29, where the application is included in adevice of the customer home network, and where, when transferring thedata between the application and the user device, the one or moreprocessors are to: transfer a document, associated with the application,from the device to the user device.
 31. The system of claim 29, wherethe one or more processors are further to: receive, from the userdevice, information identifying a path to a file on a device in thecustomer home network and an electronic mail message address or amultimedia messaging service address, retrieve the file from the deviceusing the path, compose a message using the retrieved file, and submitthe message, including the retrieved file, to a simple mail transferprotocol server for delivery to the electronic mail message address orthe multimedia messaging service address.
 32. The system of claim 29,where, when transferring the data between the application and the userdevice, the one or more processors are to one of: convert the data froma first protocol to a second protocol, or convert the data from a firstdata format to a second data format.